Segmented tampons



Feb. 28, 1967 s. PENKSA SEGMENTED TAMPONS Filed April 15, 1964 INVENTOR. STANLEY PENKSA ATTORNEY United States Patent Cfitice 3,306,294 Patented Feb. 28, 1967 3,306,294 SEGMENTED TAMPONS Stanley Penlksa, Worcester, N.Y. 12197 Filed Apr. 15, 1964, Ser. No. 359,925 1 Claim. ((31. 128285) This invention relates to vaginal tampons, and an object is the provision of certain new and useful improvements whereby the absorbent quality of the tampon is not only increased but also the rate of absorption is enhanced.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a vaginal tampon wherein the tampon body is formed of a large multiple of relatively thin separate discs of absorbent material arranged side by side and held together in the shape of a tampon by suitable means, whereby the absorbability and the speed of absorption are both increased.

The above as well as additional objects will be clarified in the following description wherein reference numerals refer to like-numbered parts in the accompanying drawing. It is to be noted that the drawing is intended primarily for the purpose of illustration and that it is therefore neither desired nor intended to limit the invention necessarily to any or all of the details shown or described except insofar as they may be deemed essential to the invention.

Referring briefly to the drawing,

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a tampon embodying features of the present invention, partly broken away and partly in section.

FIG. 2 is a front end view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a tampon of slightly modified structure.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a reduced side view, partly broken away, showing the tampon contained within a standard type of discharge tube.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral indicates a tampon body which is shown in the usual substantially cylindrical form. The present improved tampon is composed of a multiplicity of separate discs 11 stacked side by side or, so to speak, back to face, in a relatively compact mass. The discs are shown providing with aligned holes 17, shown only in FIG. 4, through which a binding member 12, which may be a flexible stranded cord or string, FIG. 1, passes. Knots or the like 13 and 14 or other suitable enlarged means in the ends of the cord maintain the discs in their relative positions. The usual withdrawal string is shown at 15 extending from the trailing end of the tampon.

The discs 11 are preferably relatively thin and are made of a suitable absorbent and preferably flexible material which may be an absorbent cotton, and all the discs are uniform, that is, all have the same dimensions. The knots on the ends of the string while constraining the discs to form the substantially cylindrical body It) also, owing to the binding force of the string, cause deformation of discs 1101 at each end into substantially conical shape to give the ends of the tampon a substantially rounded shape. Additional discs adjacent the end discs 11a may also be conically deformed but for the sake of clarity such are not shown in the drawing. Such deformation causes more or less spreading or separation of the circumferential edges of these discs from their immediate neighbors, those thus exposing not only the circumferential edges but also additional parts, to varying degrees, of the surfaces of the discs radially inward from their edges.

But even aside from this feature, the discs all expose their circumferential edges to the menstrual fluid in the vagina, and it is obvious that thereby they present a more effective absorbent part to the fluid than if they presented only their flat surfaces. The absorbent quality of the circumferential edges of the discs may be likened to that of a blotter applied to an ink blot. If the flat surface of the blotter is laid on the ink blot, absorption will take place slowly and, if the blotter is not applied very gradually, it will actually spread the blot without absorbing all of it. If, however, a side edge of the blotter, that is, the thin peripheral edge, is applied to the blot the ink will rise rapidly into the blotter.

Thus, since the discs 11 and 11a all have their circumferential edges exposed to the vaginal fluid, it is clear that the tampon Will absorb fluid more rapidly than does a tampon having a continuous circumferential surface, which is a common characteristic of other tampons on the market.

In the modified fo-rm illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the only difference is that here the tampon 10a is shown having an elastic or rubber cord or band 16 instead of the stranded cord 12 binding the discs together. A feature of this structure is that the rubber cord permits of elongation of the tampon as the discs swell with absorbed fluid, thus permitting even a larger volume of absorption.

The tampons illustrated are of course adapted to be contained in well known discharge tubes, as at 18, FIG. 5, for aiding their insertion into the vaginal cavity in the usual manner.

While the invention has been described with particular reference to the structure shown in the drawing such is not to be construed as a limitation on the invention which is best defined in the accompanying claim.

The invention having thus been described, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is as follows:

A vaginal tampon body composed of a multiplicity of stacked relatively thin discs of absorbent material all having the same dimensions, said discs having aligned axial holes therethrough, a string extending through said aligned holes and having enlargements on the ends thereof, said string having a length such that said enlargements are urged inward from the ends of the body thereby imparting' to the discs at and near the ends of the body a generally conical deformation with the maximum deformation occurring at the extreme outermost discs whereby the ends of the body are rounded.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,264,586 12/1941 Ross 128285 2,499,414 3/1950 Rabell 128285 2,858,831 11/1958 Graham 128285 3,037,506 6/1962 Penksa 128-285 3,084,689 4/1963 Maro et al. 128270 FOREIGN PATENTS 718,042 1/1932 France.

RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner.

C. F. ROSENBAUM, Assistant Examiner. 

